I have concluded that politicians these days would rather gin up the benefits of a policy decision and ignore the costs, rather than tell it to people straight.
Thanks for writing this piece! The more I read, the more concerned I am about the transition to renewables. The cost of 1. building out a renewable grid, 2. ensuring there is enough battery storage, backup fossil fuel plants and/or power that can be imported and 3. the replacement of the solar/wind farms every 20-30 years is not something we should underestimate. In places like California, New York and Germany, the renewable transition does not seem to be going that well. I am increasing convinced that nuclear power is the most cost effective, stable and clean power source that we have available, especially with gen IV reactors slated to come online within the next decade or two – although the gen III reactors seem more than up for the job.
Second - NB nuclear power is not reliable as it went down once most needed (last winter). It partly explained his never ending losses that keep accumulated.
Thanks for the link and for mentioning point lepreau! Although I've been listening/reading lots about nuclear recently, I hadn't looked up NB's own nuclear plant until now.
I absolutely agree that cost overruns and delays are a huge problem; however, I do believe this is a very solvable problem. I'm not saying this is *the* solution but factory fabrication (a technique used by small nuclear reactors) could help solve this problem using economies of scale and by minimizing site specific design factors (that lead to extra costs). Again, this would only solve part of the very complex problem of building a nuclear facility on time and on budget.
As for reliability, on an industry level, they are the most reliable energy source in terms of up time. Reliability is something I want to look into more though. I imagine that when nuclear plant goes offline for several days (or longer) it can be very stressful for a grid, especially for a small one like NB's.
Thanks for writing this piece! The more I read, the more concerned I am about the transition to renewables. The cost of 1. building out a renewable grid, 2. ensuring there is enough battery storage, backup fossil fuel plants and/or power that can be imported and 3. the replacement of the solar/wind farms every 20-30 years is not something we should underestimate. In places like California, New York and Germany, the renewable transition does not seem to be going that well. I am increasing convinced that nuclear power is the most cost effective, stable and clean power source that we have available, especially with gen IV reactors slated to come online within the next decade or two – although the gen III reactors seem more than up for the job.
Nuclear power is not an economic and reliable source as expected.
Look this article about French new gen nuclear when France is considered to be a powerhouse of nuclear expertise.
https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/energy/a33499619/france-nuclear-reactor-epr-expensive-mess/
Second - NB nuclear power is not reliable as it went down once most needed (last winter). It partly explained his never ending losses that keep accumulated.
Thanks for the link and for mentioning point lepreau! Although I've been listening/reading lots about nuclear recently, I hadn't looked up NB's own nuclear plant until now.
I absolutely agree that cost overruns and delays are a huge problem; however, I do believe this is a very solvable problem. I'm not saying this is *the* solution but factory fabrication (a technique used by small nuclear reactors) could help solve this problem using economies of scale and by minimizing site specific design factors (that lead to extra costs). Again, this would only solve part of the very complex problem of building a nuclear facility on time and on budget.
As for reliability, on an industry level, they are the most reliable energy source in terms of up time. Reliability is something I want to look into more though. I imagine that when nuclear plant goes offline for several days (or longer) it can be very stressful for a grid, especially for a small one like NB's.